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<title>Does She Love Me? (Is It Too Late?) by owlways_and_forever</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788857">Does She Love Me? (Is It Too Late?)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlways_and_forever/pseuds/owlways_and_forever'>owlways_and_forever</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>When Eagles Fall Silent [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Exes, F/M, Heartbreak, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Post-Break Up, Unrequited Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2019-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2019-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:36:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlways_and_forever/pseuds/owlways_and_forever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ginny breaks up with him, Dean is filled with regret about what happened.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dean Thomas/Ginny Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>When Eagles Fall Silent [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Does She Love Me? (Is It Too Late?)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>It creeps in slowly<br/></em><em>Stings like poison through my veins<br/></em><em>So many questions<br/></em><em>So many glances unexplained</em><br/>- Let Go by Dean Lewis</p><p>Dean saw her walking down the hall and his heart squeezed painfully. He hated this. Just one stupid comment that led to a stupid fight that made her walk away from him. It’s not like he really expected them to be together forever, but she made him happy… most of the time. And if they made each other happy then there was a chance it could be forever. There was a chance they could be right together.</p><p>There had been days when it got to him, when he felt like he was her second choice. He would see the way she looked at Harry after Quidditch practice, or see her glance over at him during dinner, and it would just drive him mad. Dean had no idea how everyone else missed Harry’s smitten expressions whenever he looked at Ginny, but somehow it seemed like he was the only one that knew. On those bad days, the fear that Harry was going to snatch her away from him took hold of him, and it made him want to cling to her even tighter. Ginny hated that.</p><p>He wanted so badly to go back to the way things had been in the beginning. Not even the beginning - the middle. The start had been fun and light and all smiles, but the middle had been truly wonderful. Because they did love each other, he knew it. It wasn’t all in his head, and it wasn’t only him. They had something together, and for a while it had been <em> great </em>, and he wanted that back. They had to find their way back from this.</p><p>Dean watched as Ginny laughed with Luna, throwing her head back with glee. Her titian hair tickled the middle of her back as her shoulders shook, and Dean felt longing gnaw at his heart. He thought back to their fight… <em> stupid. </em> He understood why she had been mad when he and Seamus laughed at Harry’s fractured skull. She had been friends with Harry for ages - the bloke was practically her brother, he and Ron were so close - so Dean understood that she had been worried about him. He had been worried too, Harry was his friend too. But it was <em> funny. </em> How could he watch McLaggen swing that stupid bat straight into Harry’s head and <em> not </em> laugh? He knew he’d be alright, Madam Pomfrey could mend anything. But Ginny had blown it totally out of proportion and they’d fought and it was just another reason why she could walk away from him. But Dean thought they’d gotten past it, moved on. And then the same <em> stupid </em>fight again. He hadn’t even tried to help her through the portrait hole, but it didn’t matter. It had been the final straw for her.</p><p>He just didn’t understand. He felt so strongly about her, he <em> loved </em>her, how could she stand to give up on them so easily? It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t right. Something shifted and Dean made a decision. He wasn’t going to let it end this easily, he was going to fight back. Because surely this had just had an argument, and he could win Ginny over again. He had to try, he couldn’t just give up. With a deep breath, Dean began to trot down the hall, chasing after Ginny. He was always chasing after her. She rounded the corner and he quickened his pace, breaking into a jog.</p><p>“Ginny!” he called out, reaching out toward her with his hand. </p><p>She turned at the sound of her name, her eyes quickly scanning the hall and landing on Dean. Her brows furrowed and her whole demeanor shifted, her body tensing. Dean felt his heart sink. If that was the way she looked at him… it felt like he was losing her all over again.</p><p>“Hey,” he breathed when he finally caught up to her, “I was hoping maybe we could talk… about things - us - about what happened the other night.”</p><p>Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Dean ploughed on, determined to get his thoughts out. </p><p>“I heard what you said,” he continued, “but I don’t think we should let that be the end. It’s such a small thing, and I can work on it, and we can be better. Ginny, we used to be happier, I know we can get there again. But I don’t want to be without you right now. I’m mad about you, I know that you know that, and I can’t just let this thing between us die because of a silly little mistake.”</p><p>Ginny was quiet for a moment, and Dean had a heartbeat where he thought he had won her over. It was so unlike her to stay silent, and he thought surely it must mean that she was seeing the sense in what he said and was considering it. But then her eyes met him, and he saw something in them that he never wanted to see.</p><p>“You think it’s silly and small, and that’s exactly why this is over,” she said definitively. “Anything that makes the person you care about upset should never be insignificant to you, Dean. It should always matter.”</p><p>“I never said it didn’t matter,” he replied quietly.</p><p>“I know,” Ginny answered, “but that is how you see it. It’s why you never bothered trying to change until now, until I broke up with you for it.” She stared him down in that fiery way she had, and Dean felt the truth of her words sinking into his very bones. “But the truth is, that’s not why I ended it, Dean. I don’t care about you, not in that way. I wish you all the best, and I’m happy to be your friend and your teammate, but I don’t want to be with you anymore. Not because of anything you did wrong, or anything like that, but just because I don’t want to. You’re not the one for me, it’s that simple.”</p><p>“I could be,” Dean protested, hating how weak he sounded even as the words spilled from his mouth.</p><p>“No, you can’t,” she snapped, frustration evident in her voice and her expression. “I just don’t want you, Dean, I’m sorry, but I don’t.”</p><p>He floundered, no more words to speak, and in that time she turned and walked away. He felt like his heart was crunching in on itself and crumbling into dust. It was physically painful, like a heart attack, but it wouldn’t ever show up on a scan. He was dying, but it would take his whole life to kill him, because she didn’t love him anymore. Because she would end up with Harry probably, and he was pretty sure he would still be standing in that hallway forever, watching her walk away because he was too late.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HHC, Year 5, Round 5<br/>Standard<br/>Prompt: [Emotion] Heartbroken</p></blockquote></div></div>
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